Broken Promises: Choice Based lettings in Hartlepool Exposed as a ‘Cruel, Broken, and Corrupt’ Housing Scheme

Our full investigation exposes Hartlepool Borough Council’s Choice-Based Lettings scheme as anything but giving applicants choice — instead, its revealed a broken, corrupt, and deeply flawed housing system.

10th August 2025

An exclusive investigation by the Teesside & Durham Post has uncovered systemic failings, misleading claims, and potential legal breaches in Hartlepool Borough Council’s social housing allocation system — leaving vulnerable residents at a severe disadvantage.

The Myth of the 50/50 Housing Split

Claims of a 50/50 split of homes being advertised on Hartlepool Homesearch quickly become unravelled as a lie

Hartlepool Borough Council claims that under a “nominations agreement” with registered social housing providers, 50% of social rented homes are advertised through the council’s Hartlepool Home Search choice-based lettings scheme, while the other half is allocated by landlords using their own policies and waiting lists.

Our investigation found this to be misleading at best and potentially deliberately deceptive.

Evidence shows that many housing providers are in fact allocating up to 100% of their Hartlepool properties — including high-demand adapted homes — directly through Hartlepool Home Search, bypassing their own individual waiting lists entirely. This practice strips away priority from vulnerable applicants, such as disabled people, who've registered directly with housing providers in good faith.

One housing provider Home Group Ltd has already admitted that 100% of its adapted properties go through Hartlepool Home Search scheme — with no notice given to those on its own internal list. This leaves disabled applicants “with no hope whatsoever” of being housed, even after years of waiting.

A Two-Tier Housing System

Our investigation has revealed "a Two Tier Housing Scheme" being run by both Hartlepool Borough Council & local housing providers.

By funnelling all properties into the council’s system, both Hartlepool Borough Council & housing providers have effectively created a two-tier housing allocation system where:

• Applicants registered with both Hartlepool Home Search and an individual provider may get an advantage on the housing queue.

  
  

• Vulnerable applicants relying solely on a provider’s waiting list & not with Hartlepool Homesearch effectively 'shut out' from applying for homes that may get allocated to someone in a lesser priority band .

  
  

One case highlights the injustice: a disabled couple placed in Band 1 priority with Home Group waited three years for a suitable home, only to lose it to a lower-priority applicant who was registered via Hartlepool Home Search — simply because they were not told the property would only be advertised there.

Our investigation found that 98% of applicants registered only with individual providers did not know those providers were diverting homes to Hartlepool Home Search.

Potential Breaches of Law

These practices breach:

• The Equality Act 2010 – by discriminating against disabled applicants.

  
  

• The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 – through a lack of transparency in allocations.

  
  

• Possibly sections of the Housing Act – relating to fair and lawful allocation procedures.

  
  

The Teesside & Durham Post also found that financial incentives may also be at play.

We discovered that Hartlepool Borough Council has paid at least one housing provider thousands of pounds, raising questions of corruption and manipulation of the housing register for financial gain.

The Dehumanising Application Process

Hartlepool Borough Councils operation of the service has come under scrutiny as being de-humanising, slow & operating with ridiculously 'rigid' policies.

The Hartlepool Home Search process itself has been described by applicants as:

• Slow and overly rigid

• Dehumanising

• Lacking discretion for personal circumstances

  
  

Disturbingly, victims of domestic abuse in our investigation have reportedly been disqualified from the housing register for reasons beyond their control, with others disqualified from the register for claims of Rent Arrears which have not been sourced with actual evidence, but merely on a landlords 'say so'....

Housing Providers Under the Spotlight

Our investigation found major inconsistencies across providers, with our investigators finding the 50/50 allocations rules regarding properties being advertised on Hartlepool Homesearch is completely inaccurate & misleads applicants giving them a false sense of hope:

• Karbon Homes – Found to be operating no independent waiting list for Hartlepool; directs all applicants to Hartlepool Home Search.

  
  

• Bernicia Homes – Maintains an internal list for transfers of existing tenants but still uses Hartlepool Home Search for allocations.

  
  

• Accent Housing – Relies heavily (80–90%) on council schemes like Hartlepool Home Search, the other 10% was found to be being advertised on Rightmove.co.uk

  
  

• Home Group – Central to complaints, particularly over diverting much needed adapted properties away from its own high-priority applicants onto Hartlepool Homesearch, where its claimed they've been allocated to applicants in much less need than those on Home Groups waiting lists. .

  
  

Adapted Properties: The Most Urgent Need, The Most Neglected

Those on individual housing waiting lists with social housing providers are never told they have no prospect of gaining an adapted property they need unless they register with Hartlepool Homesearch.

Perhaps the most shocking revelation is the 100% diversion of adapted properties (like level-access bungalows for disabled residents) away from provider lists and onto Hartlepool Home Search — often going to lower-priority bidders.

In one confirmed case, Home Group’s own solicitor admitted in writing that all its adapted homes in Hartlepool are allocated through Hartlepool Home Search.

The Human Cost

Since the pandemic, Hartlepool has seen around a 30% increase in housing waiting lists. Hundreds of applicants — from homeless families to those with severe medical needs — are now waiting longer, or missing out entirely on homes they should have had a fair chance of securing.

Hartlepool is on its 3rd incarnation of Choice Based lettings Schemes since its introduction back in 2014, with many describing the scheme being run by Hartlepool Borough Council as “corrupt”, “misleading”, and “not fit for purpose”, with calls for the service to be taken out of control of the local council & put in the hands of an independent body to ensure fairness & transparency.

Calls for Urgent Reform

The Teesside & Durham Post is calling for:

1. An Independent Audit – to examine nomination agreements and actual allocation practices.

   
   

2. Full Transparency – requiring providers to clearly disclose when properties are diverted to Hartlepool Home Search.

   
   

3. Policy Reform – enforcing the 50% rule or replacing it with a fairer system.

   
   

4. Better Applicant Support – including clear guidance and notifications to prevent missed opportunities.

   
   

5. Regulatory Oversight – involving the Regulator of Social Housing and potentially Parliament to take the system of CBL out of the hands of local council & appoint an independent housing body to manage applications & bids.

   
   

We understand at least one housing provider is now already said to be facing legal action over these practices, and our findings will be shared with the applicant’s legal team.

Conclusion: Hartlepool Borough Council is not a fit & proper organisation to be managing such a regressive, broken & cruel scheme...

The system of Choice Based Lettings must be taken out of the hands of the local council & given to an independent body to manage, the Teesside & Durham Post concludes.

After 14 years and three versions of choice-based lettings systems being operated in Hartlepool, The housing allocations process is clearly broken. Whether through design, neglect, or corruption, the system is failing the very people it exists to help — and until urgent reforms are made, vulnerable residents will continue to pay the price.

Have Your Say

What's your Experience of Choice Based Lettings in Hartlepool ?

Let us know at: newsdesk@teesdurhampost.co.uk